All purpose SHMUP thread

the ds game have 2 ships: type-a and type-b but you can unlock different colors for em. it looks like it's just for show but i thought it might make a little difference in speed or range. just unlocked death label yesterday and wow i will have to raise the bar or else this is were i'll stay. probably will watch a few videos.

Mind blown - I never noticed you could change the ships colors before! I also never got past the Death Label mode (can get to area 9, but that's it), though I didn't spend a ton of time working at it. As far as I know all that unlocks is the mode that you play in two players into one player, which is cool, but not breaking my heart too much that I've been unable to unlock it (since I did play it in two players). Correct me if I'm wrong again. I'm definitely planning to go back to this game after picking up a DS XL next year. The bigger screen should really help!

A 360 port of Senko no Ronde Duo has been announced for Spring 2010
G.Rev has some videos of the hybrid STG/Fighting game on their youtube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/GREVchannel

(the first Senko no Ronde was ported to the west as WarTech)

whoa, did not hear about mushihimesama going region free. awesome news. just placed my pre-order.

there's still so much out there for the j360 that I'm a little tempted to buy one. I suppose I can wait and see what happens.

The 360 port of Cave's Espgaluda II has been dated for February 25th 2010. No word on region encoding, but with the apparent success of Mushihimesama, I would expect it to be region free as well.

radilgy noa coming to wii
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2009/12/02/radilgy_noa_wii/

here's hopin for espgaluda 2. the first one might be the shmup I've logged the most time with on my ps2. that or gradius 5.

and have you actually gotten to play the xbox 360 mushihimesama, jeff? mine hasn't shipped yet.

been playing radiant silvergun for the the first time in years lately. I could never get fully behind ikaruga (too fussy) but I'm having a lot of fun with RS. they way your ship levels up as you log playtime is really satisfying.

Alan - bummer you copy of Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 hasn't shipped. I got mine last Friday and I'm REALLY loving it. Definitely my idea of a perfect game. So beautiful and satisfying and challenging.

Still getting my head around the different modes and scoring systems. Ultra 1.5 is absolutely insane (I've yet to make it to the first boss - LOL). Watching the leaderboard replays of perfect runs on those levels just blows my mind. Arrange Mode is also a lot of fun and a much easier way to work yourself through a version of the game - as if normal Arrange Mode wasn't easy enough, they've added in a "Novice" Arrange Mode that I was able to 1CC & no deaths on my very first try. Maybe that's too easy. Normal Mode 1.5 is probably the most balanced and satisfying. of course. I've yet to make it to the 4th level there, but I'm working on it.

Such a gorgeous game!

oh, man. I foolishly picked up some other stuff w/mushihimesama and it's holding my order back. :-/

glad to hear you're really into this game. I am PSYCHED for it.

finally got my hands on mushihimesama futari and my first reaction is @__@

but I've actually gotten way into radiant silvergun during the downtime I spent replaying while waiting for mushihimesama. I'll probably stick with RS for a little while longer before I roll up my sleeves and really dive into mushi.

exclosion

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/21879/Eclosion-Announced-for-Xbox-Live-Arcade/

looks pretty cool.

I feel like this game looks kinda shitty, but I can't quite put my finger on it (maybe just that it seems to be "borrowing" stuff from other games w/o adding anything new to the mix, except a worse sense of design). 40 levels & 90 minutes of music makes me think the game is going to be much too long. Anyhow, I found a trailer this morning, here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOFOKsuaCXE

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/01/15/deathsmiles-magically-gets-stateside-release/

Looks like DeathSmiles is getting a US release. No hard facts to the report though, so it looks like maybe it's a ways off yet? I just played through it again this morning - a very fun game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8cG1BG8Xwg

eclosion trailer looks decent, imo. guessing that's not actually the in-game music (sounds absolutely nothing like the "chiptunes" stuff mentioned in the preview). hard to say much else about it without playing.

and on borrowing without bringing anything new to the table - kind of a gaming non-issue for me and doubly so with this genre. I enjoy the conventions of the genre and will likely be happy if they executed well. there's something to be said for serving up a distilled, refined experience.

but who knows if this will bring that. (probably not?)

anyway, the death smiles localization is great news!

Official US DeathSmiles press release (no release date though - I would guess early summer?)
http://www.aksysgames.com/2010/01/18/deathsmiles-on-everyone-lolis-smile-back/#more-3359

It looks like the standard edition of CAVE's Espgaluda II will be region free after all :)
http://kotaku.com/5471899/if-you-want-to-play-espgaluda-ii-read-this-post
Game is out Feb. 25th in Japan

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/02/17/xbox_360_shooting_festa_event/

loving all the import-friendly CAVE news as of late. :-)

More Cave news...
360 port of DeathSmiles 2 is coming out May 27th in Japan
and a Guwange port is supposedly coming sometime in 2010 to XBLA
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/02/27/x360_shooting_festa_announcements/

dope.

also, I can't stop playing the original mushihimesama on my ps2 even though futari is just sitting there (mostly) unplayed! perfect accompaniment to zoning out and playing some records.

and ganwange is a long-time favorite. even go a few non-shmup friends that I worked with in college into it. they called it "gun wang".

In some ways I think I like the original Mushihimesama better than Futari, especially the music, but also just the way it feels more basic & more creepy insect-like. But I love the improved graphics and clarity of Futari. I NEED to play both more. But my copy of Espgaluda II arrived and I think it's going to get the bulk of my STG time.

The XBLA version of Guwange reportedly has three different modes (arcade, blue and an arrange mode), so it will be more than just what you could play in MAME. I assume there will be a practice mode too...

the little bit of mushihimesama futari that I played was definitely fun but almost overwhelming. not necessarily difficult (because the original seems like a tougher game to me) but a sensory overload.

still, like I said, I really haven't played much at all. need to play more before forming a real opinion.

also hadn't realized that espgaluda 2 has been released! I love espgaluda and have sunk many, many hours into it over the years. the scaled-down difficulty was nice for me because I've never really gotten much better than "just OK" at these manic shmups.

also, esp ra.de. is probably my fave cave game that doesn't have the word "donpachi" in it.

tempted to just buy this but I don't really have the time...

Here's the trailer for the xbox 360 port of Ketsui, which comes out in Japan on April 22nd. I'm really looking forward to it, as the DS boss rush version was my favorite game of 2008.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn4T-HQP-JA

Alan - after playing a lot of both now, I actually think Espgaluda 2 is considerably harder and more confusing that Mushihimesama Futari. Both are pretty crazy games though! I've so far only got to level 4 of Mushihimesama Futari once, but in Espgaluda 2 I can barely get to level 3. I need to (and will) play both lots more though. A 1CC of MF seems not completely out of the question, but that's something I can't really see myself doing in E2...

hah, would not have expected that! the original espgaluda has to be on of cave's easiest games.

I don't think I've ever 1CC'ed any cave games. ;_;

also loved the ketsui ds port. was genuinely amazed at how well it played. I'm guessing the xbox 360 port will be region free as well?

Most people think Ketsui will be region locked - no official word yet though.

aww, bummer if so.

espgaluda II ON IPHONE
http://www.cave-world.com/en/games/espgaluda2.html

if I had an iPad or iPhone I would totally buy this even though I don't see how it's going to be very playable w/o a stick & buttons. Espgaluda II is such a fucking tough game and really requires some very precise, small and fast movements that it seems like it would be impossible w/ touch controls and a relatively tiny screen, but who knows.

It's only five bucks if you buy it during the first three days of launch (April 10th).

If Jimmy Saville still gave a fuck he'd fix a Wii port for me.

yeah, I can't imagine how this would be playable

and yeah, I would totally still buy it for 5 bux if I had an iphone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aGs_FoRViM

re-hooked up my arcade cabinet recently and have been playing mars matrix again. still can't make it past level 5 on 1 qrtr. have also been playing gradius III on SNES, but i always tend to die on the same part on the 'speed' level

mars matrix is dope.

UK gets some love
http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/14956580/Raiden-Fighters-Aces/Product.html

Sin & Punishment 2 is a) ugly as hell, the cutscenes will make you want to gouge your eyes out with a rusty spoon b) really really difficult at times c) tremendous fun

sounds a lot like sin & punishment 1. (which, to be fair, did look pretty cool. just in an ugly, n64 kinda way.)

and raiden fighters aces kinda rules. I like throwing that one on late at night while chillin out and listenin to records. which is something I really like to do. so consequently, it's prob my most played 360 game.

and I didn't realize nintendo is publishing sin & punishment 2 in the US. guess that means the price will never go down and I should just bite the bullet and pick it up?

also, whoa. deathsmiles on amazon.com. never thought I'd see the day.

def will be a little embarrassed to own this shit tho:

http://cache-02.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/04/500x_deathsmiles.jpg

anyone downloading donpachi from the japanese PSN?

also jeff do you have any insight into why these games are being published on the 360? I thought the PS3 had a bigger install base in japan. it's a bit annoying because of the 360's archaic region protection : /

I've read that thought the PS3 is more popular in JP, the target audience for shmups leans 360. not sure how true that really is...

cozen - the version of Donpachi on the jPSN store is just the ps1 port of donpachi - I don't know how good of a port that is, but the original arcade game plays perfectly in MAME, as does its sequel Dondonpachi, which is a better game. So unless one is a complete puritan, MAME is a great way to go on those old games.

In regards to why the 360. Obviously I don't know the facts, but here is the basic theory... after the original xbox flopped amazingly hard in Japan, Microsoft wanted to make a better effort to be competitive with the 360. One of the ways they did this was apparently to reach out to some of these niche / hardcore publishers and probably incentivise them to work on the 360, as they also did for some Japanese RPG developers (to mixed results, see Blue Dragon, etc). For a small publisher like Cave, obviously some extra dough to help with development or marketing would be appealing, but also the fact that the 360 would be much easier to program for, very similar to what they were used to, especially compared to the ps3, which requires learning a whole new programming skill set (which obviously would be hard for a niche company), as well as the higher costs associated with blu-ray. There's also some though that since Microsoft reached out and tried to get these companies and Sony ignored them / took them for granted, these smaller companies felt flattered and that working with Microsoft seemed like it might be a good thing, enough to offset the thought that the playstation machine would be more successful in Japan.

As to region coding, until very recently, I think the idea just wasn't something these companies even thought about. Cave really feels their games appeal to Japanese gamers and, shortsightedly (realistically?), they didn't really think about the rest of the world and the bigger market they could reach.

Alan - well, the hardcore audience in Japan leans towards the 360, because the 360 has done a very good job of sewing up all the hardcore releases. Basically if you wanna play these games at home, you have to buy a j360, so the hardcore have - which was Microsoft Japan's plan. Unfortunately for them, sewing up a niche market, means their console is still pretty niche (though more successful than the original xbox). Unfortunately for us, it means getting these games is quite a bit more difficult :(

donpachi ps1 port was pretty well done, iirc. I think I had the ps1 port and the saturn ver. of dodonpachi and the difference wasn't too drastic. (but saturn was better, obv.)

but yeah, they play fine on MAME.

and jeff's droppin' serious knowledge here. thanks!